European Markets Close Mixed After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday with investors digesting regional economic data, and awaiting the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the day.

Investors also looked ahead to the Bank of England's monetary policy announcement, due on Wednesday.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.03%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX gained 0.14% and 0.13%, respectively. France's CAC 40 closed down 0.4%, while Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.16%.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed weak.

Denmark, Netherlands and Russia ended higher, while Belgium, Finland, Ireland and Sweden closed flat.

In the UK market, Marks & Spencer, Centrica and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners gained 4.2%, 3.6% and 3.3%, respectively.

Segro, Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Aviva, Prudential, IAG, WPP, Admiral Group and Berkeley Group Holdings also closed sharply higher.

Fresnillo, Anglo American Plc, Endeavour Mining and Glencore lost 1.4 to 2.5%. Rio Tinto ended down by nearly 1%.

BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Weir Group, Shell and Compass Group also ended notably lower.

In the German market, Commerzbank and Siemens Energy lost 2.7% and 2.1%, respectively. Volkswagen, Rheinmetall, Siemens Healthineers, Porsche and Deutsche Telekom also closed weak.

Puma soared nearly 17%. SAP gained about 3.2% after Jefferries maintained a 'buy' rating for the stock. Continental, Adidas, Fresenius Medical Care, Bayer, Infineon, Sartorius, Merck and Hannover Rueck also closed with strong gains.

German wind turbine maker Nordex rallied sharply after receiving its first order from Ecuador.

In the French market, BNP Paribas, Thales, Safran, TotalEnergies, Vinci and Credit Agricole closed down by 1 to 2%.

Teleperformance, Kering and Edenred closed sharply higher. Carrefour, Sanofi, Pernod Ricard, LVMH, Stellantis, Publicis Groupe and STMicroElectronics posted moderate gains.

Final data from Eurostat showed Eurozone consumer prices rose slightly less than initially estimated in August, final data published by Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

Consumer prices advanced 2% year-on-year, unchanged from the July's rate. However, the figure was revised down from 2.1% estimated on September 2.

Excluding prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, core inflation remained unchanged at 2.3%. The rate also matched the preliminary estimate.

The harmonized index of consumer prices posted a monthly growth of 0.1%, which was revised down from 0.2% estimated previously.

Further, data showed that inflation in the EU27 also held steady at 2.4% in August.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK consumer prices logged a steady increase in August, rising 3.8% on a yearly basis, the same increase seen in July. The data also came in line with economists' expectations.

The 3.8% inflation was the joint-highest recorded since January 2024, when the rate was 4%.

On a monthly basis, the CPI moved up 0.3%, following a 0.1% rise in July.

Core inflation that excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco eased to 3.6% from 3.8% in July.